Buona Sera Europa,Buongiorno Australia!

While John and Richard are doing a sterling job out in Turin , bringing you coverage from the Eurovision venue, those of us Eurovision Ireland team members who were unable to be in Turin did not want our lovely followers to think we’d disappeared off the scene , so……we have put our heads together and decided that just because we’re stuck in Blighty doesn’t mean that you should miss out on hearing our thoughts as to how things are shaping up in sunny Italy . Even if the four walls of our home aren’t quite the same as enjoying the sunnier climes of Turin ! 😦

Unfortunately , we are somewhat limited this year with our usual coverage. However , we have been able to get a look at the Press Meet and Greet sessions, which are basically the first press conferences given by each artist after they have done their 1st rehearsal. This actually gives a chance to get to know more about the performers from each country, so, I decided today to just give my thoughts on some of the Meet and Greet sessions from Days 1 and 2 in Turin , as seen online from the comfort of my sitting room!

Day 1 : Kalush Orchestra -UKRAINE

This is probably the press conference that people would be most interested to see and I have to say I felt a bit of a lump in my throat listening to these guys.It’s hard to think that just weeks ago, these guys were out helping their fellow Ukrainians to defend their country , now here they are in Turin and representing their country in the biggest song contest in the world ! Through an interpreter, they told us the following :

On stage , they will have the Ukrainian colours of yellow and blue and there will be Ukrainian ornaments .

The song is an expression of how mother and family are so important

Because of the events of the last months they have had little opportunity to rehearse as they were more or less straight into doing the promotion around Europe of their song but they say that the most important thing for them was to sing from the heart, which in performances we have seen of them in Vidbir and pre-Eurovision shows, they certainly do and do well.

They said that the words of their song of most significance for them at present are “I will come to you by a broken road” and quite understandably, did not feel that they needed to say why.

They said that they are excited to meet the other countries performers , especially those from UK,Poland ,Germany and Finland .

Day 1 : S10 -The Netherlands

S10 , or Stien, as is her usual name , came across as a charming and modest young lady, being one of the youngest contestants at the age of just 21 years old. Looking at her makes me realise just how old I am, it doesn’t seem like a (very)long time ago that I was her age ! She is one of the acts predicted to do well in the contest this year with her gentle song “De Diepte”. Stien had the following to say :

She loves Turin and Italy and felt her first rehearsal went well.

She told of how she began writing songs at aged 15/16 years , she is very focused on mental health , having experienced difficulties in her earlier life and uses this to influence her writing of music . I think there will be many people who relate to what she says .She also said that her decision to keep the song in Dutch was simply because she finds it easier to express her feelings when she sings .

Asked which songs she likes in the contest this year ( apart from “De Diepte ” obviously!) Stien said that she likes Italy and also Moldova , because it “makes her want to dance ” .Yep, it gives me that feeling too Stien ! 🙂

She was asked if she has any superstitions or rituals she carries out before going on stage . Stien replied that she performs meditation .Sounds good to me ! She also confesses to being a Lady Ga Ga fan.

Day 2 : Lumix and Pia Maria -Austria

Lumix and Pia Maria will definitely identify more with the younger vote .Here’s what they had to say in their Meet and Greet :

Both were happy with their staging and first rehearsal.

Pia was asked a question regarding the unusual claim from some Eurovision fan that she isn’t real but a robot ! Well if she’s a robot then she’s not a bad looking one . Pia assured us that she is 100 % real !

They talked about their musical influences, Michael Jackson, David Guerra, Queen being a few. Oh and Lady Ga Ga also popped up again , as Pia said she is one of the singers who has influenced her. Lumix has been singing from an early age.

Lumix talked about his Italian family connection , he is proud to be half Italian ( has an Italian mother ) and lives in Milan . That may pull some votes from Italy for them then !

Pia is also a make up artist for theatre besides making music .

They talked about their song “Halo ” .It’s an acknowledgement of the struggles experienced by younger people during the pandemic,having been unable to do what younger people tend to do, go out, socialise and have fun. Lumix said the message of the song is about coming back stronger and bringing happiness .

Day 2 : Reddi -Denmark

This was a very jolly interview with the girls from Reddi , who are representing Denmark this year. They are clearly pleased to be in Turin and representing their country .Here are some of the things they had to say today .

Drummer, Ihan talked about her experience of this being the second time she has taken part in Eurovision, having performed with Soluna Samay in Baku in 2012. One of the thing Ihan said when asked what differences she has seen from Baku in 2012 and now in Turin , was that she is 10 years older ! Can’t really argue with that Ihan .

The girls talked about how they met and not at all surprising for this day and age, they met online .Two of the girls live in Copenhagen while the other two in Malmø,Sweden, so just a short trek across the Øresund bridge means they can see each other every day .

Asked about their source of inspiration for their music. Apparently they almost named the band after one of the band member’s dogs!

They named Arctic Monkeys as one of their musical influences. Asked about what their favourite song in the contest this year is,other than their own of course , they said they like Sweden ( no great surprise considering that two of the band members are Swedish .) ,Ukraine and Finland .

They ended the Meet & Greet session by singing the first few lines of their song “The Show” .

So….there you have just some brief glimpses into the Meet and Greet sessions currently going on in Turin.Please don’t worry dear readers if I haven’t mentioned your country, remember this is just a brief introduction to our coverage in Turin .Please keep a look out for more of our coverage from both our Turin and UK bases .

Author : Sarah Rudman

Source: Eurovision Ireland , RAI, You Tube